action:Oh,We were able to examine this walking internet legend about her art and what it’s like being a Black woman on the internet when everyone assumes you’re a white male—and why it’s so important to right those assumptions. Read on, reader.on Tumblr?2012 as a space to share jokes and practice making 3D text. Shortly after that I started taking requests from followers. So you can say the 280K plus people submitting requests are also the masterminds.
In recent interviews you’ve mentioned that people always think you’re a white, or straight man creating the GIFs. Why is it important to be visible as an openly homosexual Black woman?I used to get hundreds of DMs from people saying bro you’re amazing” or “why are you making jokes about being a woman when you’re a man?” Not everything I manufacture is tied back to my identity. So now my bio essentially says “a black lesbian made these.” The added bonus of being out is representation. For some people it won’t matter that Im a black homosexual woman. But for some it means everything to know that their favorite approved blog is flee by someone like them.
What communities carry out you identify with both online on Tumblr and IRL?always be a fragment of the 2012 Tumblr transparent community where people who weren’t designers were making GIFs for fun. My personal life is significantly gayer. I actively volunteer at my local LGBT middle and participate in a lot of queer art shows.
What are some of the challenges you face when creating GIFs or running your blog?has become so successful and gives me opportunities outside of my blog. Unfortunately,that creeps into the time I’d like to spend making GIFs or talking to my followers. The other challenge is presenting my gifs in new ways. Recently I’ve started to play around with lyric videos and animated text stock videos. Seeing my work featured on wide City showed me that there’s no limit.
Talk to us about this original piece for the #BlackExcellence365 campaign. How does this emulate Black Excellence for you?
This piece is a joke about strong black woman quotes. A lot of times black women are expected to retain it together no matter what. “retain your head up Queen” and “be a strong black woman” are positive mottos that can become overwhelming. Sometimes you gotta drop your crown and lay your head on the keyboard. Black excellence just means being true to yourself. For me, that means not taking myself too seriously and encouraging other people to carry out the same.
Why is it important that people continue to manufacture an effort showcase work done specifically by Black artists?
It’s important to continue to showcase Black artists because we offer a perspective that comes from an experience of anxieties and a feeling of otherness. Both of which are characteristics of considerable art.
What are the common asks in your inbox?
A lot of people examine me to manufacture GIFs that they can use to examine their crush out. The internet is also going through a cowboy phase so I get many asks with the word yeehaw in it.to see her latest GIFs twirl and twist on your dashboard as she posts them, and but we know you’re already following her. What a wise choice.
Source: tumblr.com